The present invention relates to a process and a device for detecting the under-inflation of a tire of the landing gear of an aircraft. It is more particularly applicable to landing gears constituted by a least one bogie comprising a beam provided with a pair of twin tires at each of its ends and articulated about a median transverse spindle on a leg connecting said beam to the structure of the aircraft, the two wheels of each pair being disposed on either side of said beam.
A landing gear tire which is not sufficiently inflated may be destroyed rapidly when the aircraft is taxiing. Moreover, when the landing gear comprises pairs of twin wheels and the tire of one of the wheels of one pair is not sufficiently inflated, the tire of the other wheel of the pair is overloaded, which may also cause its destruction, for example upon takeoff or landing.
When an aircraft tire is destroyed during taxiing, parts of its outer cover are projected in the plane of its rim and may seriously damage the structure of the aircraft, as well as the systems adjacent thereto. In addition, taxiing on the rim risks destroying said rim, which may provoke difficulties in braking and accidents for the aircraft.
Devices are already known for detecting the under-inflation of a tire. For example, French Pat. Nos. 1 527 533, 2 076 108, 2 200 126 and 2 280 070, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,584,503 disclose disposing strain gauges on the axles of the wheels. This results in special complicated devices inside the hollow axles of the wheels. In this way, not only the arrangement of the strain gauges is complex and not easily accessible, but special devices are furthermore required, which have to be housed in the axles of the wheels.
The present invention makes it possible to use strain gauges which are easily available on the market.